NEWS AND BLOG

Taking over the storm - next generation UI revisited

As we leave 2013 behind and look forward to what is heading our way in 2014, a trend seems to rapidly take shape in the form of more richer and usable UI’s that can connect people and technology in new and different ways.

The need for applications to be as intuitive and simple as possible is making the leap from the consumer sector to the enterprise sector, having an engaging and effective user interface is rapidly becoming an increasing priority for enterprise applications to gain traction with companies and most importantly with the user base.

To meet this growing trend SAP and other companies are rolling out richer UI technology, in this blog we will dig a bit deeper into one of the hidden gems - Ember JS.

What is Ember JS?

Ember JS is a recent UI approach that has rapidly gained popularity due to its robust framework allowing developers to build intuitive and imaginative UIs quickly. Ember JS comes with its own Ember Object Model making this framework a powerful tool to build scalable single page applications, providing a more fluid user experience which can range from something really simple to the bold and mind boggling. Ember JS provides us with a way to consume REST based services whilst rendering exciting, rich and smart UI’s easily which seems like a boon to the new age UI requirement.

How steep is the learning curve?

Since its introduction Ember JS has been through multiple changes, involving major shifts in its API with very few tutorials, each new version change brought along with it conflicts to the one already in use. But Ember JS has now evolved into a more stable and developer friendly framework, this stabilisation and new found maturity is good news for those who are starting out as they can get to their dream UI experience without having to first tame Ember JS.

Should this be one of the go-to technologies of the future?

At AgilityWorks we constantly strive to think ahead and plan for the future and Ember JS technology has helped us do just that. Its dynamic data access, smooth user experience coupled with our very own enhanced framework and skilled consultants has been the catalyst for some of our recent wins.

With its well-structured framework and rich UI experience, Ember JS is making its mark even against the background of alternative JavaScript frameworks such as Backbone, Angular or Marionette. As such it is very much one of our go-to technologies for today and not just for the future.

Jennifer is AgilityWorks' resident Growth Hacker, working tirelessly with each business unit to bring you the latest and greatest technology and software innovations on the market. In her free time Jennifer is a keen cyclist, although she seems to spend more time falling off the bike than riding it.